This invention relates to seals, and, more particularly, to floating seals for use in sealing against the flow of liquid under pressure axially along a rotatable shaft in a rotary pump, or the like.
A primary object of the present invention is to afford a novel floating seal.
Floating seals for rotatable shafts have heretofore been known in the art, being shown, for example, in Wahl U.S. Pat. No. 3,389,916; and floating seals for rotary pump shafts, and the like, have been heretofore known in the art, being shown, for example, in my earlier U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,154,020 and 3,168,871.
It is an important object of the present invention to afford a novel floating seal which constitutes an improvement over floating seals heretofore known in the art.
Another object of the present invention is to afford a novel floating seal embodying a resilient sealing member disposed therein in a novel and expeditious manner in position to sealingly engage three sealing surfaces.
Another object of the present invention is to afford a novel floating seal embodying an annular bushing mounted in an elongated housing having a radially inwardly projecting flange at one end thereof, with a resilient annular sealing ring mounted in a recess in an outer peripheral corner of the bushing in position to engage both the outer side wall of the housing and the aforementioned flange thereof.
An object ancillary to the foregoing is to afford a novel seal of the aforementioned type wherein the central portion of the face of the bushing adjacent to the aforementioned flange is of such diameter that it may move into and out of the flange in spaced relation thereof.
A further object of the present invention is to afford a novel floating seal of the aforementioned type which is practical and efficient in operation, and which may be readily and economically produced commercially.
Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, by way of illustration, show the preferred embodiments of the present invention and the principles thereof and what I now consider to be the best mode in which I have contemplated applying these principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.